Performers: Omega Sun / The Winery Dogs
Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Date: Sunday, October 29, 2023
The Winery Dogs back in Slovenia! The second visit of these three musical super-Conans — after that July appearance at the Pivo in Cvetje festival in Laško back in 2014 had been generating enormous excitement ever since the return show was confirmed. It drew what felt like the entire Slovenian rock and metal world — everyone who takes those genres seriously. A cross-generational gathering of musicians active in various Slovenian bands, and far beyond. Among the crowd it wasn’t hard to spot faces who today make their mark on the international music scene too — including Tilen Hudrap and Dino Jelusick, both there that evening. The concert also pulled in fans from as far away as the northern tip of Europe — one visitor had come all the way from Norway. He had already been at The Winery Dogs show in Budapest the day before, and after the Ljubljana performance he wasted no words in declaring that the Ljubljana show had been on a considerably higher level — but let’s save that enthusiasm for the second half of this review. A stack of Austrian, Croatian, and Italian license plates on the cars that had come rolling into Ljubljana’s Šiška that evening. The concert had, after all, sold out completely.
Eight o’clock in the evening. Omega Sun from Koper take the stage. These seriously convincing Slovenian doom and stoner metallers from the coast, who released their second studio album “Roadkill” this year, squeezed every last drop out of their half-hour slot. They showcased tracks from the new album — opener The One and closer Early Morning among them — and convinced on every front. Against a backdrop of thick fog through which a few spotlight beams painfully struggled to break through, the trio conjured a tight focus and total commitment to the musical vision that underpins both studio albums. You can feel that the band has been on the scene for ten years and has developed genuine stage authority — they came across as thoroughly self-assured and razor-sharp in execution. The sound, through which dark, grinding riff surges rolled forward, backed by drum detonations, voluminous bass lines, and a lethal vocal, convinced and swept you away completely. Despite Omega Sun being considerably removed from the musical tastes of most who came that evening to cheer for Portnoy, Sheehan, and Kotzen, nobody could deny them first place in sheer performance conviction. An excellent opening move that caught many off-guard and on the back foot, while simultaneously delivering them a whole new kind of musical enlightenment. Omega Sun are definitively one of those Slovenian bands of ‘devastating rolling steel’, with a clear potential to knock on the doors of wider international recognition. After the set there was no shortage of appreciation from concertgoers who had by that point already filled the hall in substantial numbers. Precisely in terms of musical promotion, this performance may well have been even more important for Omega Sun than it first appears.
The Winery Dogs took the stage five minutes past nine in the evening. People — especially in the middle and front rows — fell into a minor delirium the moment Portnoy, Sheehan, and Kotzen took their positions. Yes. Everything that three albums deliver, led by the latest — “III”, released this past February (RockLine review) — had come to life! What followed was 90 minutes of a fusion of unimagined eruptions of progressive rock, hard rock, jazz rock, and blues finesse, delivered solely by the unique chemistry of this sacred musical trio. In an instant it became clear once again that The Winery Dogs are even better live than on their studio records. Can it get any better than this? Honestly, no.
Richie Kotzen, whom we’ve seen many times in solo mode (with his backing band), showed a noticeably different side as a frontman alongside Portnoy and Sheehan than what anyone who hasn’t seen him with The Winery Dogs might expect. So much exuberance, so many smiles shared with the crowd, and such open encouragement — all things any good frontman’s role demands, admittedly — was surprising compared with the mildly reserved, at times even brooding Richie one experiences at his solo shows. Here he has Sheehan and Portnoy beside him — men who are not merely intergalactic musical Goliaths in technical terms, but also highly seasoned entertainers. The lean and slender seventy-year-old — yes, you’re reading that right about Billy (the ‘Relentless’ tattoo on his right hand is no accident) — once again disarmed everyone with a display of incredible agility as he covered the left half of the stage (both its length and depth). Kotzen too moved toward the center on several occasions, where his mesmerizing soloing came into even sharper focus within the concert spectacle. And then there’s the great Mike Portnoy, who just two days before The Winery Dogs’ Ljubljana visit had rejoined the progressive metal titans of the galaxy, Dream Theater. With little more than a basic drum kit — since that’s all he needs with The Winery Dogs — he stunned again. Sheehan and Portnoy also provide backing vocals during the show. Portnoy’s love of singing has been no secret for years. Hence his microphone sits on a long, hook-shaped moveable arm (let’s just call it a stand). What’s interesting to watch through the show is Portnoy’s drum tech, who lies on a cushion to the right of Mike’s seat and constantly, vigilantly rotates that moveable mic stand. The moment Portnoy joins in with backing vocals, the mic is already right in front of his face; otherwise it stays behind his back. Just imagine the disaster if the tech lost concentration during the show and forgot to swing the stand into the right position at exactly the right moment?
The Winery Dogs have three records out there. Three phenomenal achievements adorned with a one-of-a-kind expressive chemistry. That chemistry operates in full force on the creative interplay between three incredibly distinctive, vivid, highly charismatic, and unique musicians. Nobody comes close. United into one musical body on the shared stage, they deliver a breathtaking show that’s hard to put into words. The groove and drive are exceptional, the whole show alive with incredible vibrational playfulness, spark, and wit. All that lived-in depth — backed, of course, by extraordinary mileage and experience — shifts the audience during the concert into a world all its own. One that sucks you in instantly, that you never want to end. Quite the opposite: let it run, as long as possible. And it’s precisely shows like this that afterwards feel as though they were over in a flash. The show is exceptional, and as an audience member you’re not given a single solitary moment where zoning out could even be considered.
Kotzen sang brilliantly. It’s incredible where Richie has taken his voice over the years. He is exceptional. In every register. And the trio as a whole holds up magnificently. Their stage form is majestic. You’d never give Billy seventy years. His solo spot is one of the highlights of the entire The Winery Dogs show. Solo spots are usually time thieves. But not Billy’s — and not Mike’s shorter drum piece either.
Ninety minutes of this exceptional trio’s heaven-sent thunderous cannonade, and it never once stopped wowing you. Then suddenly, after an hour of exhilarating extra-terrestrial ‘bombardment’, they headed backstage. All that remained was the encore. Two songs. The bluesy Regret and the blazing, high-octane closer Elevate (both from the self-titled debut studio album). The end.
The band made no secret of their enormous delight at the crowd’s incredible response in the packed and sold-out CUK Kino Šiška. The members immediately after the show exchanged some warm and vivid farewells with the crowd in the front rows, while Billy stepped up to the mic and delivered an absolutely spot-on send-off: “Ljubljana! Hvala vam!” You’d want to claim him as one of your own right then and there and hand him a Slovenian passport.
The question now is when and how much time the trio — especially after Portnoy’s return to his home base Dream Theater — will manage to find going forward, and when, if at all, The Winery Dogs will be back for another tour. As for Billy, we know he’ll soon be back in Ljubljana, where he’ll play CUK Kino Šiška on 4 April 2024 on Mr. Big’s farewell tour. Bottom line: the experience of The Winery Dogs remains the definition of musical dreams that become — and stay — reality. We can only hope that this gathering with The Winery Dogs in Ljubljana wasn’t the last.
Author: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik (plus Edita Klemen: 34, 35, 36)
The Winery Dogs setlist:
1. Gaslight
2. Xanadu
3. Captain Love
4. Hot Streak
5. Desire
6. Mad World
7. Stars
8. Damaged
9. Drum Solo
10. The Other Side
11. Bass Solo
12. The Red Wine
13. I’m No Angel
14. Oblivion
—encore—
15. Regret
16. Elevate
